22/03/2003
Tyneside Amateur League Division 2

IJLW Brazil
Barlow, Davison, Churchley, M McClure, Charge, Woods, Toms, Belcher, Haigh, Robinson, R McClure. Subs not used: Slack.

With a record number of absentees and a flat match ball Brazil were certainly not the favourites to win this match, despite feeling aggrieved to have narrowly lost to The Bush with a weakened side in the second round of the NFA Minor Cup. The Bush, as expected, dominated the match. Brazil were kept inside their own half for virtually the whole of the first half. Although The Bush had lots of possession and some quick forwards they did not create too many clear scoring opportunities. This was partly due to some good defending and partly due to The Bush’s poor final passes. Brazil’s first moment of respite came when an excellent long pass by Ricky McClure resulted in a Brazil corner. R McClure and Dave Churchley both checked their runs, as the corner was miss-hit, but Churchley’s call was ignored and Brazil were unable to get a shot away.

The pressure continued at the other end and The Bush came extremely close to scoring after 30 minutes. Pete Barlow’s save rebounded to a Bush striker whose follow-up shots were blocked on the line by first Anand Charge and then Churchley. Churchley then completed the clearance after having to make a tackle on the line. Brazil could have snatched an undeserved lead before the break when Steve Toms, who had worked hard defensively as well as being Brazil’s most creative player, ran onto Shaun Haigh’s long throw. His shot, on his left foot, was just wide of the near post. Brazil’s only other shot of the half was 25-yard drive by Paul Belcher, following a short free kick by Churchley. The shot was well struck but blocked by a charging defender.

The second half brought more of the same except that some of the Brazil players were beginning to tire and The Bush were pushing more men forward in an attempt to score the crucial goal. More good Brazil defending and goalkeeping kept The Bush at bay until the 70th minute when a weak clearance was picked up just outside the area and the ball was driven into the bottom corner of the goal. More chances followed but the score remained at 1-0 as Mike McClure made an excellent saving tackle, Barlow pulled off a couple of good saves and the far post kept out a wickedly curling effort.

The missed chances seemed to demoralise The Bush and, for the last ten minutes, Brazil came back into the game. Haigh started battling for the ball and using the space he had on the left flank to attack The Bush. The added pressure by Brazil came to nothing though, as the only shot on target was a weak effort by R McClure who volleyed a difficult ball as it came over his shoulder. Churchley had to get back and make a strong saving challenge as most of the Brazil team stopped, expecting The Bush to make a substitution, when the ball was actually in play. In the last minute, Belcher’s neat through ball almost gave Steve Robinson an unlikely chance to rescue a point for Brazil, but he was beaten to the ball by a defender. Steve Toms finally got a man of the match award, after having played excellently throughout the second half of the season.